But spare a moment for the small-scale farmers who live and work in these protected areas. Lost in the environmental policies that rightly safeguard a huge swath of green space, is a defined plan to help farmers co-exist — even thrive — amid protective rules.

They are losing the freedom to flourish, clipped by well-meaning rules from overlapping environmental bodies. No one will argue against the protection of such rich and important land by the Greenbelt Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act and various regional conservation authority laws.

But layers of confusing regulations can impede a farmer’s ability to, say, modernize his milk production, erect new buildings or change livestock from cattle to chickens as the market demands. As well, complaints from city folk moving nearby are hampering the use of manure on fields or tractors on busy gridlocked roads.